


Goodnight, Travel Well

by commanderplexa



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Oblivious!Lexa, Smitten!Clarke, potential Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:35:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8569819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commanderplexa/pseuds/commanderplexa
Summary: When her best friend is told she only has one month to live, Clarke decides right then and there that they are going on a road-trip down the West coast. With only two weeks before Lexa needs to come back home, Clarke has little time to enjoy a world with her best friend in it. And the one question that keeps ticking away in her mind is... What are you supposed to do when the person you've been in love with for the majority of your life is meant to fade away in thirty-one days?-----Or the one in which Lexa gets terrible news and Clarke tries to make the most of the time she has left with the girl she's in love with who is utterly clueless to matters of the heart.





	1. The One Where Clarke's Heart Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> You can blame my friend Ash for this becoming a thing. I was originally going to make this a one-shot, a really long one-shot for her, but I figured that she deserves more than just a one-shot. This is a belated birthday gift from me to you, Ash. Sorry it took so long.
> 
> Expect updates every week or so. I am a busy college student after all. Also apologies for any spelling/grammatical mistakes, I will not be surprised if there are some here and there.

It’s funny the way certain words sounded. 

Cacodemonomania had been used in a junior high spelling bee once and when Finn heard it, he just sat down, not even going to attempt it. Clarke hadn’t let him live it down for months.

Some words only sounded weird when they were used in a sentence. 

For example, how Raven used ‘boom’ in place of a sexual act or how Octavia overused the word ‘like’. 

Sometimes words can mean too much when said all together to form a singular sentence. Sometimes, maybe words were better left unsaid altogether.

“The doctor said I only have a month.”

Now was definitely one of those times.

“Say something.”

Clarke ignored the way Lexa tried to catch her gaze, wishing the tears away as she stared blankly at the floor. After all, it wasn’t every day when your best friend, and secret love of your life, told you they were going to be dead by the end of the month. 

“Clarke.”

This couldn’t be the end of their friendship. They’d grown up together, their houses across the street. Clarke was the first to get into trouble and Lexa was the one to get them out of it. Lexa had eyes matching the forest that lay just beyond the edges of their houses whereas Clarke’s resembled the clearest of summer skies. Lexa had soccer championships and AP literature classes while Clarke had art galleries and bio labs. They were stark opposites and yet they melded into one perfect harmony when they’d found each other.

They were Clarke and Lexa. 

This wasn’t how they were supposed to end. 

“Clarke!”

Her head shot up at this, breath hitching as she saw Lexa who looked as if the world was shattering around her. And it was... 

“We’re going on a roadtrip.”

Lexa’s eyes widened, mouth opening and closing for several seconds. 

“Clarke... We can’t do that. I need to be with my family, with Aden.”

Stepping forward with a shake of her head, Clarke’s jaw tightened as she pulled Lexa to her, resting their foreheads together. 

“I understand that. But... God, we just graduated high school! We were supposed to go abroad this year.” Clarke trailed off for a moment, a few tears slipping down the apples of her cheeks. “This wasn’t supposed to be the end of our story.”

“Death is not the end, Clarke.”

The urge to roll her eyes or even slap Lexa silly was strong but she fought it down, words coming out in hushed tones as she subconsciously rocked them back and forth in the middle of her bedroom.

“Just give me two weeks.”

“Clarke.”

“Lexa... _Please_.” 

Lexa sighed, eyes closing before she nodded her head. 

“Okay.”                                                                                                                       

* * *

 

“You’re holding it upside down.”

Clarke frowned, flipping the roadmap so it was facing the correct way. A huff escaped her lips as she leaned against Lexa’s Subaru Outback.

“First of all, I don’t see why we can’t use the GPS. It’s 2016, Lexa, not 2002.”

Lexa rolled her eyes. 

“The GPS was invented in 1991, Clarke. Also if you’re going to start of a sentence with ‘first of all’, you generally need to have a second of all to follow it.”

If looks could kill, Lexa wouldn’t have had her month, she’d be dead on the spot. Clarke rolled the map up, choosing that moment to hit the top of her best friend’s head who let out a small yelp.

“You’re a smart-ass. Anyway, like I was saying... _Second of all_ , why couldn’t we just have taken my car?”

“Because I don’t want to go on a road-trip for two weeks in your VW bug that’s broken down over twenty times in senior year _alone_. My car is clearly superior.”

“Your car is a grandma car.” Clarke huffed, hiding the smirk as Lexa let out a cry of outrage.

“It’s the latest model and its very fuel efficient, thank you very much.”

“But Lex, we won’t look cute in it.”

Clarke pouted and Lexa only rolled her eyes, walking up to her and flipped the map once more for her so it was _finally_  the right way up. 

“I’m dying, Clarke. I’d rather be safe than cute.”

Of course this sobered up the blonde immediately. With a nod, she focused in on the map. A red line stretched from Bellingham, Washington to Tijuana, Mexico. Two little black asterisks were next to LA, which Lexa had questioned but Clarke had only muttered it was a surprise which her friend had accepted with a shrug. 

“Come on.. Dad is waiting with pancakes before we get going.” Clarke said with a tug to Lexa’s hand, the blush creeping up her neck as the brunette interlaced their fingers. 

* * *

The kitchen was silent save for Jake’s whistling as he flipped another pancake in the pan. 

Abby watched as her girls, seated at the dinner table, made doodles on their plates with syrup. 

“I can’t believe this is happening to her, Jake. She’s so young... Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children.” Her eyes watered with tears as she spoke, not noticing how close her husband had gotten until she felt his arms wrapping around her from behind. 

Her head laid back against his chest, Jake pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he rubbed at her arm soothingly.

“There’s nothing we can do, sweetheart. We just have to be there for her. Both of them, actually. This trip is actually a good thing for them. Maybe Clarke will finally get to tell Lexa how much she loves her.”

Abby bit her lip as she watched her daughter press a tender kiss to Lexa’s temple as they waited at the table. She’d been surprised when Clarke had come out to her as bisexual when she was fourteen but she’d managed to handle it as well as a mother could when they realized their daughter wasn’t who they thought they were. It all made sense as the years went on and she saw just how much her beautiful daughter felt for the girl from across the street. 

She and Jake had watched them grow up, grow together, then apart, and finally together again. Clarke’s feelings had blossomed and Abby had to hold her through the rough patches. Like when Lexa had dated Costia Greene and Clarke had come home crying, flowers smashed in her hand that were Lexa's favorite. She’d held her when Lexa had been hospitalized with appendicitis and she’d held the both of them when Lexa’s mother had left, never to return.

Lexa was like a second daughter to her and she had hoped that one day, Lexa would finally realize just how much Clarke loved her. Now, well, it seemed like that would never be a reality. 

Instead, they were stuck with this one. 

“It has to be killing Clarke.”

“I think it’s killing all of us.” Jake responded with another kiss to her hair, Abby sniffling lightly before turning to her husband and kissing the underside of his jaw. 

“Gus is alright with what we’re doing for her once they reach L.A. right?”

Jake nodded, looking at the table once he heard Lexa’s shriek as Clarke pinched her side. A sad smile grew on his face as his daughter was tackled by her best friend, watching them as the tussled about on the floor. 

“He’s insisting that they take the company’s je-” He was cut off when he felt a slap to his gut, Abby’s eyes wide as she took in the view in front of them. There on the floor, Clarke had somehow managed to get the upper hand and had pinned Lexa to the floor, hands holding wrists down as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

When they didn’t make any move to close the distance, Abby scoffed and rolled her eyes, deciding to spare her daughter some more heartache by slamming a cupboard.

Loudly. 

It had the desired effect, Clarke and Lexa springing alive from shock, knocking their heads together in an attempt to untangle themselves. 

Jake and Abby chuckled as they turned to the breakfast, Abby’s hand resting against her husband’s forearm. 

“They could have been so good together.”

“They still can be.” He replied softly before putting on a brave face as he headed towards the table, a plate of pancakes in his hands. 

Abby watched from a distance, forks and knives in her hands as the girl had seemingly all but forgotten what had just occurred a moment prior. With a roll of her eyes, she started making her way over.

“One can only hope, Jake... One can hope.”

* * *

 

 It wasn't long before Clarke had her feet up on the dash, much to Lexa's annoyance, the map in her hands flapping in the wind. Lexa had her aviators on, fingers tapping to the beat of a Killers song as she sang along. She was completely oblivious to the way bright blue orbs lit up as she got into 'Mr. Brightside', Clarke too enamored by her best friend to realize that the map was flapping too hard from the wind. 

Before either girl knew what was happening, the road map was flying out the window and skittering along the highway before going underneath a semi-truck's tires. 

"Oh you have  _got_ to be kidding me."

"Lexa, I swear it wasn't on purpose."

Clarke's eyes were wide as she stared at her now empty hands, utter shock written on her face for a moment before she realized that this had been a godsend of sorts. With a sly grin, she looked over at Lexa who looked like she was contemplating getting out of the car in search of the map. 

Fishing in the bag that lay at her feet, Clarke pulled out the Garmin GPS, suction cupping it to the window as she ignored Lexa's grunt of disapproval. 

"Clarke." Lexa whined. "You did this on purpose."

"I did no such thing. It was an act of fate."

"There's no such thing as fate, Griffin."

The blonde shook her head, putting on her own sunglasses. Using this opportunity to just stare lovingly at her best friend, Clarke felt her stomach begin to do flip-flops as Lexa started to tap at the screen of the GPS in an adorably agitated manner. It was times like these, when Lexa was doing something so utterly Lexa, that made Clarke's heart burst at the seams. 

She'd been in love with her far longer than she'd known what the word had even meant. 

From the time she'd first met her; she'd skinned her knees in front of Lexa's house the day the other girl had moved in which had resulted in Lexa rushing out at the ripe old age of eight and bringing Clarke a Spongebob bandaid for her. Even when Lexa took Costia to the Spring Formal their sophomore year and Clarke had to watch them dance from afar, she had fallen deeper and deeper for her best friend. And Lexa?

Lexa was none the wiser. 

Lexa with her stupidly adorable glasses that she wore before bed or early in the morning before she put in her contacts. Lexa with her lip freckle and amazing laugh. Lexa with her knowing just what to say to make Clarke feel on top of the world. Lexa with her gentle, innocent touches that left her skin burning.

Lexa, Lexa, Lexa. 

Clarke was sure she was being consumed whole, her very veins feeling on fire with a passion she barely had enough restraint to contain. Clarke was utterly, hopelessly, and messily in love with her best friend. 

Her best friend that only had a month to live. 

Was she really willing to risk these last few days together on something so silly as her feelings?

There wasn't an easily discernible answer laid out for her but as Clarke watched Lexa drive them towards Seattle, the sun shining down on her skin as her curls bounced in the wind, she knew one thing. 

Fate had brought them together. And now... Now, fate was tearing them apart.


	2. The One With Baguettes and Needles

For two girls that lived only about two hours away from Seattle, they sure hadn’t gone there often and definitely not without parental supervision. To say this experience was thrilling was an understatement. 

Of course, they both had different ideas of fun when it came to the city but they both agreed on where to start. 

That’s why Clarke found herself waiting outside Le Panier at Pike Place Market, rocking back and forth on her heels as Lexa bounced excitedly. 

“Lexa, you’re acting like a child.”

“Says the one that used to start baguette fights.”

“Okay, excuse me, Monty and Jasper started those. I just happily participated. And won, might I add.” Clarke said with a scoff, feeling herself be tugged inside as the line began to dwindle down. 

The smell of fresh-baked bread hit her nostrils, a content sigh escaping her lips as she rested her head on Lexa’s shoulder. Her cheeks turned warm when Lexa pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, wishing more than anything that this wasn’t Day 1 of the end. She'd been too lost in her own head that she hadn’t noticed Lexa had already ordered for them, having just blindly following along as her best friend’s arm wrapped around her, securing her to the other’s body. 

It wasn’t until they were back out under the summer sun that Clarke had noticed that Lexa was no longer beside her and was now, instead, in front of her extending a baguette.

“Earth to Clarke. This is your Commander speaking.” Lexa tapped on her forehead softly with two fingers, shaking her head. “What’s on your mind Space Cadet?”

Clarke grunted, slapping Lexa’s hand away playfully as she took the baguette and bit off the end of it. She almost choked at Lexa’s horrified expression, choosing to smile around her mouthful before her best friend could start to scold her.

“We are in public! You could at least act like a civil human being every once in a whi-”

The blonde had cut Lexa off with a thwack to the top of her head, crumbs from the baguette getting in her hair. 

“I will kill you, Griffin.”

“You could never hurt me. You love me too much.”

“Do I?” Lexa scoffed, pushing past Clarke. “Do I really?”

The younger girl tried to push down the disappointment that filled her gut, despite knowing that she was teasing. 

“Not in the way I wish you did.” She muttered under her breath before taking another bite of her baguette. 

“Did you say something Clarke?” The words were called over Lexa’s shoulder, the soccer player having set her sights on one of the farmer’s stalls that housed flowers. 

Clarke shook her head despite Lexa not being able to see her, putting the baguette back in its wrapping before depositing it in the slender backpack that she’d brought along. 

“I said, we better pay for those sunflowers before you steal them.”

Lexa’s jaw dropped as she turned around to look at Clarke who had a shit-eating grin on her face. 

“I would _never_  steal, Clarke.”

“Oh but Lexa, you’ve already stolen my heart.” She fake swooned, watching as Lexa rolled her eyes in response before turning back around to talk to the person in charge of the booth. 

Taking this as a perfect opportunity, Clarke opened the group chat she had going with her group of friends that had been appropriately named ‘The Delinquents’. 

**Bellossom [11:30 AM]  
   ** _Seriously guys, which one of you cut holes in all of my workout shirts where my nipples are located_

**Little Lion [11:30 AM]**  
_It wasn't me. Though I'm sure you can totally guess who it was._

**Nitro [11:31 AM]**  
_Fuck off with this early ass texting. Also if you're implying that I did that, Griffin, I'm disappointed.  
As if I would do such a weak prank._

**Lady O [11:32 AM]**  
_Bell, it was probably Murphy so can you please go harass him NOT in the group chat_

**Mr. Mansplain [11:32 AM]**  
_Guys you'll never guess what Maya got me for my half-birthday._  

**Smol Bean [11:33 AM]**  
_Jas, as your best friend, I can eagerly tell you that no one cares._

**Resident TrashCan [11:33 AM]**  
_Well hot damn. Monty's got some balls after all.  
Or maybe he's just mad after his break up with Miller._

**Little Lion [11:33 AM]**  
_Murphy..._

**Resident TrashCan [11:34 AM]  
** _Speaking of shitty things, how's it going with dead girl walking, Griffin?_

**Harpoon [11:34 AM]**  
_Murphy do you ever shut up? Jesus._  
Ignore him Clarke.  
I think its great you're getting to spend time with Lexa before...  
You know... Before.. 

**Nitro [11:34 AM]**  
_This conversation is painful as fuck._  
_To sum it up, Murphy you're an asshole._  
_Go have Emori blow you so you can chill out._  
_Clarke, we love you and Lexa and are here if you need us._  
_And Bell.... Well... It was me. BUT THERE'S A REASON._

**Bellamy [11:35 AM]  
** _I KNEW IT I'M GONNA KILL YOU REYES_

Clarke rolled her eyes at her friends antics, putting her phone in her pocket just in time for Lexa to walk back up to her. 

"For you, Clarke." 

Blue eyes went wide with surprise as a flower crown was placed on her head, Lexa already wearing one as she tried to adjust it on top of the blonde's head. 

"Lex, you're such a hippie." 

"Good thing we're going to Portland later on then, eh?"

With a smile, Clarke wrapped an arm around Lexa's shoulders, pressing an over-exaggerated kiss on Lexa's cheek which made the other girl laugh and wipe at her skin.

"C'mon, lets go find that stall that sells the flavored honey sticks. I'm craving cinnamon right now."

"You'll always be my honey, Clarke."

Clarke floundered for a moment before grimacing at how cheesy that had been.

"....Please leave the pickup lines for me."

"Fine."

* * *

Rembrandt, Goya, and Picasso's works were on full display with several other artists at Seattle's Art Museum and Clarke was in heaven. Sure, she appreciated almost every single kind of art that was out there but there was something about the Renaissance that had her jaw dropped as she walked around the current exhibition. 

Lexa followed along behind her like a dutiful puppy, intrigued by the allure of it all but nowhere near to Clarke's levels. Their hands were intertwined, the only thing keeping Clarke and Lexa tethered together as they went through the museum.

"It's just so... God, its just so...."

Clarke was at a loss for words as she stared up at 'The Mill', Lexa coming up behind her as she chuckled before letting go of Clarke's hand to wrap her arms around her.

"Beautiful and bold. Kind of like you."

It was a good thing Clarke wasn't facing Lexa because she didn't know how she was supposed to explain the way her breath hitched or how her face was now a deep shade of red. Hopefully, with any luck, the girl behind her couldn't feel the way Clarke's heart was hammering in her chest. Jesus. This girl would be the death of her. 

"Honestly, Lexa. You should just pay me compliments all day. They stroke my already overly-inflated ego."

Lexa's laughter rumbled the both of them, shaking her head as she swayed them back and forth. People passed them by, assuming that yet another couple was spending some quality time at the museum and Lexa was none the wiser. 

"You sound like one of my teammates. Apparently she got her ego stroked a lot."

"I doubt that's the only thing she got stroked."

"Gross. I don't need to think about that."

"Are you sure you're gay?" Clarke turned to face Lexa, brow raised.

"I have eyes, Clarke, she's attractive. I just don't need to know about her sexual acts."

"Okay, so you find her aesthetically pleasing! Good to know we haven't lost the L in LGBT. Granted, your brother thought that was a rather expensive sandwich for a long while."

Lexa flicked Clarke's nose, mouth scrunching up. 

"So what do your eyes see about me? Am I as attractive as what's-her-face?" 

Before Clarke could stop herself, the sentence was out there and now she was helpless as she waited for a reaction from her best friend. What she hadn't been expecting was the furrowed brow and shrug of her shoulders. 

"I mean, I see you. You're my best friend. You're pretty and I guess-"

"Wait, you guess?"

"That's not what I meant."

"You compare me to a painting a second ago but when I ask you if you find me attractive you say 'I guess'."

Her heart was seizing and Clarke found herself pulling away from Lexa, arms coming to cross over her chest in a completely protective manner. 

"I do think you're attractive but you're my best friend and I-"

"No you know what? It's fine. Let's just get going. I'm done looking at the art."

Clarke turned, heading towards the nearest exit that would lead them back out onto the streets of Seattle. 

"Clarke, wait."

Lexa's words fell on deaf ears, Clarke already out the door leaving her best friend to stare back at the art they'd been admiring in confusion.

What just happened?

* * *

Dinner had been absolutely uneventful until _it_   happened.

Lexa had picked the Spaghetti Factory which was undoubtedly both her and Clarke's favorite Italian restaurant in the Pacific Northwest. 

Unfortunately for the both of them, Clarke had been quiet all dinner long. She'd buttered her bread angrily, ignored any and all attempts of conversation starters and ate her mizithra pasta without so much as looking Lexa's way. 

It hadn't been until they were eating their spumoni ice cream when Clarke finally looked in Lexa's direction. And boy, did she wish she'd done it sooner. 

Lexa looked positively awful as the color drained from those gorgeous cheeks of hers, spoon clattering on the table as she clutched at her chest. 

"Lexa." The word came out in a gasp as Clarke got up from her side of the table and rushed to Lexa's side. 

She was suddenly very thankful that they'd sat in a corner away from most everyone else, this giving Lexa at least some semblance of privacy. 

"Hey, hey. Listen to me. You're okay. You're gonna be okay."

The brunette could only nod as she struggled to get her breathing back under control. Her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest, the pain unbelievably strong for several more moments as Clarke murmured words of comfort into her ear as she was pulled closer, Clarke rubbing her back gently.

"Clarke... It hurts."

"I know, babe. Just keep breathing, it will stop soon."

She should have known that Lexa was going to start showing symptoms from the tumor that they'd found. They'd put her on medication to help but it was known to cause side-effects and so this had to be one of them. Eventually the pain seemed to ease up because Lexa wasn't breathing as ragged anymore, Clarke still unsure if she should pull away from her best friend or not. 

How Lexa had to be one of the twenty-five percent that had a malignant cardiac tumor was maddening. How they hadn't noticed until  _now_ that the tumor had essentially worked itself into every available space it could within her heart, squeezing it like a vise, was enough to make Clarke sick. How she'd treated Lexa earlier, made the food she'd just eaten feel sour in her stomach. 

"I was an ass earlier."

"It's okay. I offended you and I really didn't mean to ever do that."

Clarke shook her head, pulling Lexa into an embrace, pressing a kiss to the girl's temple. 

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just on edge because of all of..." She lifted a hand up, fingers tracing over where Lexa's heart lay below her chest. "I should have paid better attention."

Lexa pulled back, forest meeting sky.

"I meant what I said... You are beautiful and bold." The brunette smiled sadly, tapping a finger on Clarke's nose. "And stubborn. You jump to conclusions and you never let me finish what I'm saying half the time. What I was going to say was that I guess I found you to be the most hauntingly beautiful person I'd ever met and you don't even act like you're... Like you're beautiful, Clarke. And that right there...  _That's_ maddening for me. That you just don't see it."

The air seemingly left her lungs, Clarke not sure how to respond to what Lexa had said. It was as if her brain had short-circuited, fingers twitching at her sides. 

"I don't know what to say."

Lexa chuckled at that, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"You're the best friend I could ever ask for, Clarke Griffin. You don't have to say anything."

And just like that the fluttering ceased and Clarke floated back down to earth. Best friend. Nothing more. 

Giving a smile that successfully hid the pain she felt from her heart cracking a bit more, Clarke got up off the floor. 

"Guess you're a good enough friend too, Woods. I just don't get down on my knees for anybody. I'm gonna go wash my hands." 

As Clarke turned around to head to the restroom, she missed the way Lexa's jaw dropped, cheeks tinged a faint shade of pink. 

Once she returned, Lexa had successfully finished her ice cream and looked ready to go. 

"You ready for our last stop before the hotel?"

"You bet your sweet ass."

Clarke laughed, leaving a tip on the table as they made their way outside towards Lexa's car.

"Be glad I'm going up there. You know how much I hate heights, Clarke."

"I'll keep you safe, I promise." 

"My hero."

* * *

It wasn't long before Seattle stretched out before her eyes, Clarke laughing as Lexa clutched onto her for dear life from the observation deck of the Space Needle. 

"I can literally feel this whole place swaying."

"That's the point, Lexa. The Space Needle sways one inch for every ten miles per hour of wind. You know that this thing was built to withstand a wind velocity of 200 miles per hour and-"

A hand clapped over her mouth, half surprised that Lexa hadn't begged to go down to the road below by now. 

"Yeah, yeah, that's fascinating. Stop telling me about this death trap and distract me some other way." The older girl all about yelped at a particularly strong wind gust, moving closer to Clarke. 

The blonde looked at her friend for a moment, pondering her words as her eyes flitted at the people around them that were seemingly all caught up in the view surrounding them. Which of course she could understand because being up here was amazing. 

"You sure you want me to distract you?"

"Clarke, please. Anything to remind me that I'm not so high up off the ground and could potentially become as flat as one of your dad's pancakes that he made us this morning."

To be honest, Clarke wasn't planning on doing anything other than talk Lexa's fears down. But before she knew what was happening, she was moving closer to her best friend, watching as Lexa went adorably cross-eyed in confusion. 

"What are you doing..." Lexa mumbled, as Clarke cupped her cheek with her left hand. 

"Distracting you."

This was it. This was finally the moment she'd been waiting for since she was seven years old and had met Lexa. This was what she'd been waiting for since braces, since Costia and Finn, since prom and graduation. 

Clarke leaned forward, her breath puffing lightly against lips as her eyes closed slowly just as her mouth finally touched Lexa's. 

Fireworks didn't go off much like she'd thought they would. The world didn't burst into an explosion of color. There wasn't a symphonic medley hitting her ears.

What was there instead was the world around her going quiet as she kissed her best friend. All she could hear was their heartbeats, both out of sync, sounding like rapid banging rather than something peaceful. For a moment she wondered if she should be worried about Lexa's heart but then she felt it. 

The gentle slide of lips against her own and the hands that encircled her waist, pulling her undeniably closer. 

Lexa was kissing her back. 

Lexa had whimpered into her mouth as Clarke bit on her lower lip. 

Lexa was—

"Clarke! Are you even listening to me?"

The girl in question blinked rapidly upon realizing there was a hand in front of her face, waving back and forth at her until she figured out it belonged to Lexa. 

"I'm sorry.. What did I miss?"

"I was saying that you should distract me."

Clarke inhaled sharply, brow furrowing in confusion. 

"You mean I didn't just distract you?"

"Uh... No? I was talking about pancakes and then you went all zoned out on me. Are you okay?" Lexa looked at her with concern, hands coming to cup Clarke's cheeks as she inspected her. "You're tired aren't you. We can go to the hotel early, its fine."

"I... I thought that..."

"Okay Little Lion, lets get you to bed. Clearly I'm not the only one being affected by this change in altitude."

"But-"

Clarke wasn't allowed to finish her sentence because Lexa was already dragging her back towards the elevator that would thankfully bring them back down on the ground. Within minutes, Clarke and Lexa were in the car, on their way to the hotel room.  She eventually got out of her head just in time to go check into the hotel as Lexa parked the car, grabbing their room key as soon as Lexa walked inside with their bags. 

As soon as they entered their room, Lexa frowned, turning to face her. 

"Clarke. There's only one bed."

Her gaze drifted to the bed, watching as Lexa moved to sit down on it, her face still holding the frown for several moments before she burst into a fit of giggles, sprawling out on the duvet. Clarke rolled her eyes at the joke, knowing from the very start that it hadn't mattered one damned bit that there was only one bed. The two had been inseparable as they grew up and had never once not shared a bed when they were in the same room.

"I call left side."

"Of course you do, Princess."

"Ew. Only Bell gets to call me that and even then, I don't care for it." 

Lexa grinned before throwing a pillow at her. 

Eventually both girls took their respective showers and were all dressed up, or in this case dressed down, for bed. 

Clarke crawled under the covers on the left side of the bed, Lexa yawning as she followed suit on the right. The lights were already off as Lexa turned on her left side to plug in both of their phones and rest them on the nightstand. 

Before she could turn back, however, Clarke was behind her. 

"Why do I have to be the little spoon? I'm taller than you."

"I just want to take care of you, okay? Just... Let me take care of you for these next few days. Please?"

Clarke heard Lexa's sigh, felt the nod as she pressed herself up more fully to her best friend, wrapping an arm around her.

"Okay."

"Good... Now lets go get some shut-eye. We've got some more things to do in Seattle tomorrow before we head on out. It'll be so much fun. We can go down to the aquarium and the wharf. We can go to Bainbridge Island, ride on the ferryboats and-"

"You know, for a person that wants to sleep, you sure talk a lot."

Clarke huffed before pinching Lexa's shoulder, smirking at the way Lexa acted as if it hurt even when they both knew it didn't. Still, that didn't stop her from pressing a delicate kiss to her best friend's skin where she'd just pinched. 

"Goodnight, Lexa."

"Rest well, Clarke."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments, everyone! Means a lot that you guys are liking the fic. Once again, any and all spelling/grammatical errors are my own and I am truly sorry if you see them before I can edit like a madwoman. My tumblr is lexawoodswrites if any of you ever want to come bug me on there. 
> 
> Also, surprise! I posted this chapter early. 
> 
> Originally I was going to write it this Saturday/Sunday and post it on Tuesday the 22nd but I'll be at Disneyworld & Universal Studios getting my inner child on for Thanksgiving break, so I wouldn't have had time to write it. So tadahhhh, here it is. 
> 
> Also, in this chapter, you get to see the first of what I hope to be some entertaining interactions with Clarke's friend group. Expect to see them and a few other make some appearances throughout the journey of the story.


End file.
